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Delhi to Shimla by Road : Update as of 28th July 2011

Delhi to Shimla

Just a small update for everyone with regard to the road condition between Delhi and Shimla as it stands as of a few weeks ago
First the good news. The stretch from Delhi to Panipat now is simply awesome ( excluding ofcourse our traffic behavior) , the entire stretch from Azadpur to the delhi border has been done up with a series of flyovers placed as well cutting the time drastically. Wide open roads with very few lights ensure that you can zip through this stretch now , a welcome relief from all the years it has taken for this to be completed.

The bad news. Panipat to Ambala is current a massive work in progress project. NHAI is expanding the road to make it into an 8 lane stretch. Good intentions but it makes for poor driving at this point . The current length of the road has been reduced and there are very few straights now available to build and maintain a decent pace. In many places the stretch is only about 500 km’s before there is a small diversion in aid of a flyover pillar being placed. A bit frustrating if you are trying to push but once ready ( not sure when) i am sure this will be an excellent stretch

The flyover work at Zirakpur is over ( FYI for those not aware – post Ambala the expressway has been fully functional for quite sometime now). Traffic is bad but more owing to bad driving than anything else.

The best part and something i have been looking forward to for years is the new stretch between Zirakpur all the way to Parwanoo. A brand new road , with 5-6 flyovers built in makes it a delight now. I managed the run ( which is approx 30 -35 odd kms) in less than 20 minutes , a far cry from the days when it used to take as much as 45-60 mins depending on traffic.

Once at Parwanoo of course the problems which have plagued this area and further on Kalka continue to exist , but there is a bypass being built now which will come out a little before Timber Trail once completed ( not sure when) which promises to , if not reduce time, at least make the drive less stressful.

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7 thoughts on “Delhi to Shimla by Road : Update as of 28th July 2011”

This reply is not linked to your post – i came here via India Travel Mike – your reply on Ramgarh Bungalows was the most comprehensive one in the entire thread. Could you please email me in brief about your experience there and any specific trails/treks you went for? We have heard a lot about the place, and intend to travel in the next few weeks if possible.

Hi Siddhant , assuming minimal traffic and stops not amounting to more than 1 hour in total and you are a bit of a peppy driver – 8 hours is easily doable , but the problem is that the assumption is not realistic , be it traffic or jams owing to others breaking down etc , meeting this timeline is always tough

Hello! I saw this article and couldn’t resist providing some more info. The bypass between Pinjore and Parwanoo (the stretch after the Panchkula area which was the narrowest road and hugely congested!) has been completed and thanks to an active judiciary, has been opened for the public. What this means? It means WOW! 😉
The expressway is smooth, very wide and has partitioned lanes which is the need of the hilly areas! No more accidents due to the other person being on the wrong side of the road! (at least on this small part!) The travel time has come down drastically, the journey is way more comfortable and the area is pretty scenic! So, all and all, once the NH 1 gets completely 8 laned, its going to be a treat to drive up!
By the way, I recently heard that the stretch of road from the Timber Trail, Parwanoo (where the current bypass ends towards Shimla) to Shimla is also being transformed on the same terms. i.e. divider based wide road! 🙂

I have been unable to drive up to Shimla for sometime now and have not seen the new bypass first hand but keep hearing good stuff about it , hopefully an opportunity will present itself soon. Yes there are plans to fix the road from TT upto Shimla as well. Lets see how that goes.